Dear Friends,

I have been going through the email of New York Times (I am on their mailing list), this evening as usual. It provides not only a bird's eye view of what is happening around us, but also gives you the American perspective of the major global and domestic events.

I was stuck by an article by NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF. He has just been to Pakistan and seen the penetration of the society by the so called "Jihadi" elements. I can not but marvel at the dedication and guts of Mr. NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF, because we all know what happened to another US journalist Daniel Pearl, sometime back. He paints a very dangerous and scary picture of Pakistan. If one has any doubts about the instability of both Pakistani nation as well as society, I suggest this article. It is an eye opener (if they ever needed one) for the American establishment in particular and the world opinion in general.

I have quoted a few lines from the article so that you can judge for yourself. I think, US would be very short sighted, if it still ignores the dire warning signals. Worse still, failure of American leadership and policies in Pakistan, would affect every nation sooner or later.

"Terror Creeps Into the Heartland

By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF

A poll of Pakistanis released this month by WorldPublicOpinion.org found that one-third believed that the Taliban intended to gain control of all of Pakistan, but 75 percent thought that would be a bad result. Two years ago, only 34 percent of Pakistanis believed that Islamic militants constituted a “critical threat.” Now, 81 percent do.

Unfortunately, the United States has acted in ways that have often empowered the militants. We have lavished more than $11 billion on Pakistan since 9/11, mostly supporting the Pakistani Army. Yet that sum has bought Pakistan no security and us no good will.

In that same poll, 59 percent of Pakistanis said that they share many of Al Qaeda’s attitudes toward the United States, and almost half of those said that they support Al Qaeda attacks on Americans.

One reason is that America hasn’t stood up for its own values in Pakistan. Instead of supporting democracy, we cold-shouldered the lawyers’ movement, which was the best hope for democracy and civil society."